Meaningful Use

Several studies point to a higher adoption rate of smartphones by physicians than the general public. Given the historical low rates of technology adoption within the healthcare industry, this news may come as a surprise.

Despite the relaxation of the proposed meaningful use criteria for the adoption of EHRs and EMRs, critics claim that the final rule is still too stringent and the rushed timeline will doom the whole transformation to a fully electronic healthcare delivery system. Politics aside, the critiques are actually a good thing.

Everyone in the industry is painfully aware of the state of hospitals today, even before the economic recession sent healthcare providers down a darker, deeper spiral. Add healthcare reform and the federal incentives for the meaningful use of health IT to the mix, and you’ve got major changes that would make mere survival monumental.

Emergency rooms fully equipped with EHRs have been credited with treating patients who eventually have shorter hospital stays than hospitals that have paper or basic EHRs, according to a new study.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued guidelines to state Medicaid directors regarding federal funding for the administration costs associated with Medicaid healthcare information technology initiatives.

With government incentives only offsetting EHR costs by about 15 to 20 percent, providers should not only be prepared to make a significant investment in IT, but should also consider a "radical new approach to IT," say the authors of a new study.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) will announce the names of the authorized testing and certification bodies (ATCB) "soon," according to Carol Bean, ONC's division director for certification and testing.

An editorial in the American Medical Association's American Medical News applauded the relaxation of the proposed meaningful use criteria when HHS came out with the final rule in July. Still, the editorial says that the road to meaningful use will be "tough."

Cloud-based EHRs are being touted as a cost-effective alternative for physicians who are worried about the price tag of client-served, software-based EHRs. A recent article, however, questions whether they are such a good choice for a number of valid reasons.

Preventing patient data breaches is cited as the number one priority for healthcare IT decision makers, but work remains for complying with security regulations, according to a national survey that examines IT trends in healthcare.